I know you didn't. Most people were probably thinking it (it being that he isn't really French but rather a product of French colonialism) though, so I wanted to get ahead of the debate.
Going off topic here . . . but I saw Styx in concert a year ago. Long story (I went thinking a different band was playing and Styx was the emergency fill-in). I did not have high expectations when I learned on the change . . . and they put on one of the best shows I've seen in years. They were not just collecting a paycheck- they played 100% for 2 1/2 hours (1 hour more than the contract required). And they have only gotten better at their instruments (the piano guy came out solo and led the audience through Bohemian Rhapsody). And my wife says Tommy Shaw's hair is still something she covets. Anyway, props to them. Anyway, back to regularly scheduled programming.
How many women were in the audience? 5% Reminds me of both a Van halen concert I went to on their last tour and even a Rush one (there was maybe two women there who weren't working)
and they were there solely to ensure their husbands didn't nerd out too much during a Neil Peart drum solo.
Switching bands, David Lee Roth was fronting VH for this tour and during Jump, he tried to swing his leg and jump - i'm pretty sure his foot got at most 9 inches off the ground and he wasn't able to spin at all until he used his cane as balance. He acknowledged that the years/drugs/women had taken a heavy toll on his body. I had tears in my eyes - it was so funny watching him.
In the last game against Paderborn McKennie got a 7.5 (out of 10) rating from whoscored. Interesting contrast with Kicker.
Coach Wagner's XI for #M05S04 🗒️#SchalkeUS🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/JYAaylFJuT— Schalke 04 USA🇺🇸 (@s04_us) February 16, 2020
Watching another terribly boring Schalke performance. the bundesliga only has 4 interesting clubs to watch. The other 14 are just 90 minutes of attrition. It really is a terrible year for the league. Quite a few bad teams. If you’re bad, at least be fun to watch.
Weston played one of his better games of the year but came up short again. He had quite a lot of positive dribbles and passes as well as a terrific shot from outside the 18 on the volley that just went wide... but man o man did he have a shot to win it at the end. He is part of the play that wins the corner is stoppage time and Mainz forgets to cover him... wide open net and he hits it a foot wide. Ouch. Aside from that choke and one brain fart in the 1st half I thought he played quite well. One of his better attacking games and he was yet again running all over the pitch. He also showed some jets in the 1st half I didn't think he had catching up to a guy dribbling in on goal.
the problem was how much easier it was for Mainz to get down Schalke's right side where McKennie was playing. His one touch passing was better but like the broadcast said, he makes bad choices in transition.
We must have been watching a different broadcast. He may have choked at the end and he did have that lack of concentration in the 1st half but he was one of the better players going forward today.
Yea, this is nonsense. they attacked freely on the left side with ocizpa making several errors. He does need to be more aggressive in transition and trust himself to carry the ball forward. But....he played really well overall
His first touch to bring the ball down in the box while under pressure was sublime. Didn't know he had it in him, it's moments like that that make it easy to see why his coach would want him on the field. His work rate, attitude, and occasional moments of talent are a great combo.
Wes has always shown relatively top technical quality imo. Not directed at you but in my experience, high work rate, physically strong players often get troped into being less than they are technically and/or tactically. I've definitely seen that with McKennie over the years.
McKennie with a Kicker rating of 4 against Maiz (1 best, 6 worst). I thought it seemed a little low, but with the yank tax, it was about right. He had a good, solid game and was involved, but not in a "special" way. He definitely contributed well on both sides of the ball. Watching Schalke is not very inspiring, however. Side bar: Apparently the Kicker ratings are "human based" and not stat based like whoscored.com. Someone posted a link on BS to a Belgian research paper which explained the different rating systems and compared them. The human based ratings systems (Kicker, SportBild) were actually pretty good from an overall average standpoint. Kicker makes good use of all the levels (normal distribution from 1 to 6, including half levels) while whoscored tends to just be between 5 and 9 (1 to 10 scale, so not making use of full scale). For Kicker rating, each player starts with a 3.5 and then go up or down based on performance. Anyway, just some background on the Kicker rating because we got so many yanks there in Germany.
Weston was the best player on the pitch in the second half. A 4 is a Joke. But kicker is the gospel on BS.
Thanks for that! Though I think he may have less quality, he reminds me an awful lot of Jermaine Jones when he plays. He's a battler, tough as nails, and has some real class with some of his first touch passing and control of the ball. Never shies away from a challenge and is a natural leader. I don't know that he has one correct position in the midfield, but I think you could put him anywhere from a 6, 8, or even as he did in this one as a wider player and he'll do the job for you. Especially against weaker international opposition, he's going to be a beast in the midfield. He just needs a solid supporting cast around him.